• Unions look after the livelihoods of members by ensuring their employment and employability
• If workers face retrenchment, unions ensure that it is the last resort and workers get fair compensation
• If employer is ruthless, unions can escalate matter to the Ministry of Manpower or take industrial action
• Industrial action may include strikes, picketing or working slowly
• Industrial action is allowed in Singapore, if participants adhere to strict labour laws 

SINGAPORE — Industrial action is very rare in Singapore, but this show of displeasure with a company’s treatment of workers recently came to the fore when the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) made public its efforts to put a halt to what it regarded as the unfair retrenchment of workers at an aircraft maintenance company.

On Wednesday (July 29), NTUC — the peak union body here — said that it had been in talks with Eagle Services Asia earlier this month about the company’s unilateral decision to tell workers that they were set to be laid off even though negotiations with three unions were ongoing.

NTUC and the unions involved in the discussions — the Air Transport Executive Staff Union, the SIA Engineering Company Engineers and Executives Union, and Singapore Airlines Staff Union — felt that the firm’s action was unacceptable because they were still in the midst of talks.

To help improve the retrenchment process, NTUC’s secretary-general Ng Chee Meng authorised the unions to conduct a secret ballot seeking to sanction legal industrial action, if it was deemed necessary. There was ultimately no need to execute this action, because the parties eventually agreed upon satisfactory terms of the retrenchment exercise.

TODAY takes a look at the process for carrying out industrial action, as well as the roles that the unions play in Singapore.

WHAT DO TRADE UNIONS DO?

Ms K Thanaletchimi, president of the Healthcare Services Employees' Union, said that the role of the unions in Singapore is to protect the livelihoods of workers by ensuring their employment and employability.

NTUC’s deputy secretary-general Cham Hui Fong said in response to TODAY’s queries on Thursday that a trade union that has been recognised by an employer can represent its members in collective bargaining and start negotiations for a collective agreement.

This is a legally binding agreement between an employer and the trade union on the employees’ terms and conditions of employment, which is valid for between two and three years.

In the event that there are employment or industrial disputes, Ms Cham said that the union will always try to negotiate and resolve it at the company level.

Ms Thanaletchimi said that if workers have to be retrenched, the unions will carry out discussions to ensure that the lay-offs are the absolute last resort for the company.

If that is the case, the unions will then proceed to negotiate for a “reasonable package” to be given to the workers who are being retrenched.

Ms Cham said that the retrenchment benefits are usually pegged to what was agreed upon in the collective agreement.

On average, she said that most unionised companies pay around one month for each year of service to affected workers who have worked for the company for at least two years. This is in comparison to the national norm of two weeks for each year of service.

On top of the retrenchment payout, Ms Cham said that the unions usually also negotiate for other benefits such as training-related allowances or grants, extension of medical benefits, payment of union membership and payment of pro-rated variable bonus, among others.

Mr Arasu Duraisamy, general secretary of the Singapore Port Workers' Union, said that there is no fixed timetable to carry out the negotiations, because it depends on the complexity of the issues involved.

“There is no concrete deadline to be agreed upon, as long as all the issues are resolved and whatever requests from the company, or even from the unions, are addressed,” he said.

Ms Cham added that if companies are experiencing financial difficulties and have to retrench in order to remain operational, the unions may renegotiate the retrenchment package to ensure a fair deal.

In such instances, she said that the unions will take guidance from the tripartite advisories and consider the financial position of the company before making any decisions. “This is so that we can ensure sustainability of these companies, in order to take care of the rest of its workforce.” 

Ms Thanaletchimi said that a company that has good labour management relations with the unions will typically inform them of any retrenchment intentions up to half a year ahead of the proposed implementation of the layoffs.

Other responsibilities of the unions include ensuring that displaced workers can quickly find a new job through NTUC’s Job Security Council, set up earlier this year to assist workers seeking employment, Ms Thanaletchimi said.

In the event that negotiations with a company fail, the unions can escalate a trade dispute to the Industrial Arbitration Court for arbitration.

Alternatively, unions could opt for industrial action if they need to make a decision quickly.

This is typically reserved for scenarios where the employer is “very ruthless” and the unions are unable to reason with them, Ms Thanaletchimi said.

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ACTION?

The Trade Disputes Act defines industrial action as an act by employees working in any trade or industry that results in “any limitation or restriction on, or delay” in the performance of their duties. The ultimate example of this is a strike — ceasing to work for a set period.

Speaking to the media during a video conference organised by NTUC on Wednesday to give details of the Eagle Services Asia case, Ms Cham highlighted a few examples of industrial action.

She said that it could include wearing black armbands to “show your displeasure”, slowing down or stopping work completely, or even holding up placards to demonstrate unhappiness with a company’s behaviour.

HOW IS INDUSTRIAL ACTION CARRIED OUT?

Ms Cham said on Wednesday that before the unions could consider taking industrial action in the case of Eagle Services Asia, they had to ensure such an action does not fall afoul of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act.

This Act states that it is illegal for any essential service worker employed in water, gas or electricity service to go on strike.

Other essential service workers who do not fall under the three specified categories will have to give at least two weeks’ notice to their employers of their intentions, among other requirements.

If any worker violates this law, he or she is liable to a fine of up to S$2,000, or a jail term of up 12 months, or both.

In the case involving Eagle Services Asia, an aircraft maintenance company, none of the workers would have been penalised by the Act had they gone on strike.

Still, Ms Cham said that the executive committee of a union whose workers are involved in proposed industrial action must be satisfied that all means of negotiation have been carried out before such action is executed.

While unions are authorised to carry out industrial action, the Trades Union Act stipulates that they must first obtain the consent of the majority of their members affected through a secret ballot.

The penalty for members of a trade union who begin, promote, organise or participate in any form of industrial action without the consent of the majority of the members affected is a fine of up to S$2,000.

HAS INDUSTRIAL ACTION EVER BEEN TAKEN IN SINGAPORE?

The case of Eagle Services Asia is not the first time that NTUC has authorised industrial action. Ms Cham declined to provide details, but she said that there had been another instance “a couple of years back”, though there was similarly no need for it to take place in the end.

In 2012, more than 170 SMRT bus drivers recruited from China took part in an illegal strike over two days because they were aggrieved at the disparity between their wages and what their Malaysian counterparts earned.

Media reports said then that the strike was deemed illegal under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, because the workers had disrupted an essential service without the requisite two weeks’ notice.

The strike by the bus drivers was the first in Singapore since a strike in 1986 involving workers at Hydril, an American oilfield equipment company, which was sanctioned by then NTUC secretary-general Ong Teng Cheong.

At the time, he had given the green light for a two-day strike by members of the Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees’ Union against Hydril.

The strike was over what they saw as the unfair dismissal of six branch union officials. 

As a result of the strike, all parties involved were called back to the negotiation table on the second day of the industrial action.

A settlement was finally reached: One union official would be reinstated while the other five would receive compensation. In return, the union called off the strike and the workers returned to work after the two-day work stoppage.